For the first time in Brockville's history, voters will choose their mayor and council on Oct. 25 without ever lifting one of those small pencils to mark an "X" on a paper ballot.

Rather, this electronic election will give people three options for exercising their democratic duty: the Internet, the telephone or a touchscreen at help stations in either of two locations in the city.

During a recent demonstration of the electronic voting system, city clerk Sandra Seale reiterated that city councillors chose to do away with paper ballots altogether.

"It's really about the convenience," said Seale.

"It's more convenient for people to vote at home."

Intelivote Systems Inc., the company running the election for the city, has run several hundred elections worldwide, and is overseeing more than 30 electronic elections this time around across Ontario, said Seale.

The track record has shown the system is secure, she added.

Locally, Augusta, Elizabeth-town- Kitley, Edwardsburgh-Cardinal, Leeds and the Thousand Islands and North Grenville Townships are using electronic voting in this election, said Seale, although they are also including paper ballots.

Brockville council opted to avoid paper ballots altogether to make it entirely electronic, said Seale.

"If we're making the leap to technology, make the leap."

Seale briefly ran through the actual process of voting electronically, demonstrating it on a touchscreen set up in a boardroom next to the council chamber.

Eligible voters will receive a letter, telling them when, where and how they can vote and providing them with a personal identification number (PIN), said Seale.

The letters are to be mailed out next week.

Voters can go online and follow the instructions, or do so by telephone. The letter includes both the website and the number to call.

For telephone voters, each candidate has been assigned a number.

In order to avoid problems with autodial, the online vote includes a "human interface challenge," a series of characters the voter must type in.

The system then asks the voter for his or her PIN, then proceeds separately to the mayoralty, councillor and school board races.

Voters get to confirm their selection before voting, and can change their votes if they've made a mistake.

"When you finish your race, it's like you drop that one ballot into the box," said Seale.

"It's very clear about what the voter intent is."

People can switch from Internet to telephone if they wish, and the system will let them pick up where they left off.

Similarly, if someone is interrupted in mid-vote online, he or she can log back in and resume voting.

But there is no way for voters to cast the same ballot twice, said Seale.

If some electors want to carry on a longtime tradition of "plumping" their ballots, that is still an option, as voters in the council race are not required to vote for nine people.

The closest thing to the old-fashioned way of voting will be two voting stations with touchscreens, one at city hall and the other at St. Lawrence College, said Seale.

Those stations will have a privacy screen around them like the old voting booths, she said.

The electronic system allows for a lengthy advance voting period. People will be able to vote online or by telephone starting Monday, Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. until the close of polls the following Monday, election day, at 8 p.m.

Similarly, people can go to the two voting stations from Oct. 18 to Friday, Oct. 22, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

City staff will keep up-to-the-minute tabs on the percentage of electors who have cast their ballots, but not the results themselves until election day, said Seale.

The city has hired an auditor to test the electronic system, at the start of the voting period and repeatedly throughout, she said.

When the uncertified results come in, likely a few minutes after 8 p.m. on election day, city staff will check them over for any irregularities before releasing them, likely around 8:15 or 8:20 p.m., added Seale.

The results will be certified when the auditor confirms the system had no glitches.

In this election, there are just under 15,000 registered voters, down by some 2,200 from 2006, said Seale.

That's because this time, legislative changes have allowed the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) to remove unconfirmed citizens from the list, said the clerk.

"That's why we're making people aware that they should be calling and checking," said Seale.